Judge Declines AP’s Request to Temporarily Lift White House Access Ban
The White House banned the AP from a few events since it won’t use “Gulf of America.”
US District Judge Trevor McFadden declined the Associated Press’s request to temporarily lift a ban against the wire service from the White House.
However, McFaddon scheduled a hearing on March 20 where the AP can present arguments “for a preliminary injunction.” More from CNN:
McFadden gave a number of reasons for why he decided to deny the request for emergency relief at this stage in the litigation, including that he wasn’t persuaded that the AP was facing “irreparable harm” as a result of the ban.
He said the news organization “can get access to the same information” from the pool notes that are given to all members of the White House Correspondents Association even if it’s barred from being at the events where that news is made.
And he said the organization’s delay in bringing its lawsuit were evidence that it wasn’t being injured in a way that necessitated his intervention more than a week after the White House instituted the ban.
During the hearing, however, the judge appeared somewhat skeptical of the legality of the ban, describing it at one point as “discriminatory” and “problematic.”
And while he repeatedly seemed confused by how the pool is set up, at one point he said that the White House “has accepted the White House Correspondent Association’s ability to be the referee here.”
The ban restricts the AP’s access to the Oval Office and Air Force One.
The Associated Press sued three officials in President Donald Trump’s staff, claiming the ban violates the First Amendment and the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment.
The White House insists the AP doesn’t have a right to attend certain events just because it “may have long received special media access to the president does not mean that such access is constitutionally compelled in perpetuity.”
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Comments
Point One – AP got banned because they are a very dishonest fake news organization
Classic example of AP’s distortion.
AP report on Shiri Bibas:
:A body released by Palestinian militants overnight was confirmed by the family to be of Shiri Bibas, the Israeli mother whose sons also died in captivity.”
The truth is that she and her children were brutally murdered by hamas!
Except no, they didn’t. Perhaps they should have been, but the reason given for the ban was that they continue to call the Gulf of Mexico by its actual name, rather than by what the US government calls it. Which is fine by me, as far as I’m concerned the president doesn’t need to give any reason at all. And AP are in fact dishonest, so if he wanted to ban them for that I’d be fine with it. But the fact is that he chose to ban them for this silly thing, which is totally his choice, but let’s not make things up like AP does.
Milhouse, I actually agree with you on this one. IANAL, but have paid a lot of law school tuition and a lot of legal bills. As a result, I have had much advice and many lectures.
If I had written that ban, there would have been no reason given. Simply revoke their invitation. That would highlight the real issue–do they have a “right”?
Don’t give a reason if you don’t have to.
The “real ” name? Is it inscribed on the floor of the Gulf? Written somewhere on the universe for all to see?
No, what you mean is “the name that its been called previously but is no longer.”
The Gulf has had numerous names over time and like most bodies of water, may be called different things by different countries.
Don’t make things up like AP does.
It’s the name the whole world uses for it. Nobody outside the US government calls it anything else, except as a joke. Trump has no power to change things’ names; he can only change what the US government’s publications call them. If you call a tail a leg, a dog still only has four legs.
And there is nothing sacrosanct about the phrase “Gulf of Mexico,” even if the whole world uses it.
The very fact that some entities are weeping and wailing and gnashing their teeth over the name change makes me think that the renaming is not such a crazy idea after all.
While we’re at it, we should throw some of the “deadnaming” baloney back in their face for a change.
He is not calling a tail a leg, he’s calling a bady of water a body of water.
And if he can change what the USA calls it, then he does have power to change things’ name, which he is doing in fact.
The more it is used and seen, the more it may be accepted. Time will tell better than pronouncements.
No, Nordic, there’s nothing “sacrosanct” about any name. It just happens to be the gulf’s actual name, because it’s what everyone except the USA government calls it. That’s what a name is.
Oldschool, he is calling a tail a leg. What makes a tail a “tail” and not a “leg”? Only usage. And if the US government started calling tails legs they’d still be tails because no one else would follow suit. If people did change their usage then eventually the word “leg” would indeed include tails, and dogs would indeed have five “legs”.
The point is that AP is doing nothing wrong by continuing to call something by its name. It would be unconstitutional for the US government to take any action to punish AP for doing that.
Unfortunately for AP, when Trump invites people into his office he isn’t being the US government, he’s being an individual. It’s his office, and he can invite whomever he likes to visit him there, and uninvite whomever he doesn’t like.
There’s a structural difference regardless of how it’s used. Monkeys use both tails and legs for locomotion, but a biologist would never confuse the two.
Too certain by half. Don’t speak for all others that no one will ever accept the brand new name for something. The TRUTH is you do not know.
Not to mention that changing a name is not the same as calling a tail a leg. In TRUTH, a leg cannot be a tail, EVER, but a body of water can have many names at once. Just look around the world.
Obama and Biden both changed established names and the world didn’t melt down.
Rubbish. Language is controlled only by usage. If people start calling tails “legs” then that will be the correct name for them, and biologists will simply say there are two types of legs, the kind you walk on and the kind that hangs behind animals.
But that change can only come from genuine and general usage, not from one person’s decision to change his personal vocabulary, nor from any government’s decision to change its internal style.
I never claimed that no one will ever change their usage. Perhaps one day they will, in enough numbers to matter. But that has obviously not happened yet. So for now its name has not changed, no matter what the US government decides to put on its internal documents.
That’s rubbish. The only thing that makes a tail a “tail” and not a “leg” is usage. A tail is a “tail” because people call it that, and not for any other reason.
You’ve just made my point. Indeed they did, and usage didn’t generally follow suit,* and yet nobody melted down about it.
Here the only one melting down is Trump, because how dare anyone refuse to change their usage because he said so. It’s Trump who imagines he’s the boss of the world and can change things’ names and make everyone change how they call those things.
AP isn’t melting down. It’s just not willing to change its style just because Trump wants it to. He is not AP’s boss. He is only the boss of the executive branch of the US government, so it’s only that branch that has changed its usage. Almost no one outside the US government has changed, because why would they?
* Denali wasn’t a case of usage following a government ukase; it was a case of the government following usage. Alaskans had been calling it Denali for the better part of a century before 0bama had the federal government change its publications, and they will continue to call it that now that Trump has changed the federal publications back. State publications have been calling it Denali for decades, and will continue doing so.
Milhouse—
The past few years have seen many places’ names changed. Street names as well. In New Orleans alone, Robert E. Lee Blvd is now Allen Toussaint Blvd, and Lee Circle is now “Harmony Circle,” the statue of Robert E having been unceremoniously—and largely unpopularity—been removed.
People want to rename everything that offends them. What’s sauce for the goose….
Millhouse – Your comment is both correct though somewhat out of context.
We all agree the official stated reason was the failure to call the gulf of mexico the gulf of america. I agree that was a petty and c— s— reason.
In my opinion, The underriding reason was the long history of dishonest reporting from the AP along with most of the msm.
I will also agree that changing the name to gulf of america is just a trump ego trip. Too much capital and energy is being spent on something so trivial
SHOCK!!!!
Point two
All the judges ruling against the administration are biden or Obama appointees.
This judge is a trump nomination.
The Secret Service can restrict them from AF1. No judge can over-ride the Secret Service.
And as far as the personal space of the president’s office, he should take control away from the White House Correspondent’s Association for that and let them be in charge of other places in the white house—-but his office should be off limits except for his personal discretion.
Entrance into his office should be based on earned trust and not carte blanche to anyone with a press pass.
They shouldn’t be in charge of any place. The entire system of press passes and pool rooms, etc., which the court in the Jim Acosta case found had created fifth amendment rights, should be cancelled, as that court explicitly said would be fine. Instead access should be by invitation only, revocable at will. The invitation should say in bold print: “This invitation is extended at the president’s pleasure, and does not grant the recipient any rights; it may be revoked at any time, for any reason or none.”
It’s rare I say it, but Milhouse is exactly right (as was the Court’s observation).
The WHCA is an unofficial, nongovernmental organization that has no more legal power to say who gets into WH functions than I do. Its power has always been a gratuity at the sufferance of the WH, which can remove it any time it wants.
That the court explicitly told the AP’s attorneys this now gives the WH a clear path to completely yank whatever powers it has gifted to the WHCA. The WH should either just do this, or quietly tell the WHCA it will do so unless it immediately modifies its practices to allow the WH to override any of its decisions (such as seat assignments).
If banning a news org from access to WH pressers is “discriminatory,” why isn’t it “discriminatory” for the WH to block any news org from the pressers for there simply being a lack of space for everyone who wants access?
If the WH fill’s AP’s spot with another news org, couldn’t that org similarly complain if the AP is successful in recovering its spot? Obviously, the WH can’t be required to grant access to all journalists who want WH presser access, simply because the law can’t require an impossibility.
Because lack of space is a reason. The White House not liking someone’s reporting means that the denial of access is punishment for exercising a constitutional right, which is unconstitutional. But that’s premised on the idea that press pass holders have some kind of quasi-property right in it, because there is a system with objective rules. Abolish that system and it’s all at the president’s whim, which is as it should be.
Who the frick made the White House Correspondent’s Association God?
If the keep pushing it, maybe it is time for the WHCA to take a Flying F and give credit to AP.
There is no law that says WHCA has a right to access.
No, there is no such law, but having established a system for press access that does give the various members of the news industry a property interest in it, and a right to due process when it is revoked.
See Judge Timothy Kelly’s decision in CNN v Trump in 2018, regarding Jim Acosta’s press pass, which practically drew the White House a map for how they could get around it, but they chose instead to back down and chase the next shiny thing.
Also see Sherrill v Knight, the precedent on which the Acosta case rested.
Yes, established procedure was in play. Now that Biden did not really hold press conference, we could say the process has been changed. Also, the WH can and has said this area is private and Trump is entitled to that privacy. With Karoline’s announcement as such, I think this will rule the law going forward.
Additionally, Trump can have fun with this. If Trump pushes a divide with AP and other news agencies, by calling office AF1 and WH press conferences, it could put AP in a bad place because they are going to screw it for everyone else.
The press room now has rotating spots. Press core is losing their gripe on things. They are being troll, just like with “big balls” They come off as whinny little Karen’s.
In the end, AP is going to be exposed for their poor coverage. Best for them to shut their mouths and stick to reporting.
It just keeps sickening us normal people how easily this moron red hat cult gladly accepts this moron’s undermining of our voting system, our judicial system, and our free press. SMH
You sound like a chicken without a head, filled with fake outrage. It’s probable that the undermining effected by your cult was greeted with the snapping of fingers in lieu of applause.
We have had a lot of trolls on here, but you’re the stupidest one so far.
I knew that one hit the bullseye with you Paula.
She’s right, though.
What bullseye, dufus? The one between your eyes?
A carefully crafted post of nonsense talking points would hit the bullseye of everyone with an IQ north of water’s freezing point. You can’t back up any of the things you said with examples.
transvestite 1156 is just cranky cuz mom hasn’t brought his poptarts down to the basement yet.
It’s orange, moron!
Never mind upping your medication, Go right for ECT and have them seriously dial up the voltage.
How about electroshock therapy? Dial up the enough and we could cure Arab terrorists. I am thinking of a 15K volt neon sign transformer.
Don’t worry — he won’t make it four years. He’ll eat his own cartridge in a closet before then.
Neither the voting system, nor the judicial system, nor yet the free press have been undermined in any way under this administration. You must be thinking of the last one, which undermined all three.
I knew that one hit the bullseye with you Paula.
if you’re looking to waste commenting space and annoy people: congratulations
My bad… I should say : ” Trump is a straight shooter -he tells it like it is! And despite a few rough edges , he’s a super effective businessman WHO GETS THINGS DONE!!!!” I mean that IS the laughable con job the cult believes ,right?
hahahah good one Milhouse! Hey that 2020 election was RIGGED! The moron is going to show the proof any day now. LAFFRIOT!!! 3 frauds, sexual assault, libel, felony. ALL rigged. ALL those prosecutors,judges and juries were crooked. Tump never does anything wrong. LAWFARE!!!
Trump is doing so much right, truly exceptional.
Especially that part where the moron is blaming Russia for the war! LAFFRIOT .( what a gullible bunch of rubes”
TDS exemplified. Swallow EVERY hoax and spew it out with fake laughter covering the deranged anger so evident in your cult!
How did he undermine the free press? They can still lie about him just as much as they always have, they just can’t do it from the Oval Office or Air Force one. Nobody has that right, it’s always been a privilege and By Invitation Only.
Normal? There is not a single thing that’s normal when it comes to you.
Having trouble with reading comprehension? Your screed has nothing to do with the topic of this post.
Go take a lude.
Trump does plenty of things wrong – we all do.
But he was prosecuted on the flimsiest of grounds.
His convictions will be overturned.
The crooked 2020 election will be exposed.
And Trump’s still YOUR president, like or not.
How sweet is it! (credits to Jackie Gleason)
No, he’s not my president. He’s the president of the united states, and I am not a state. This is not a monarchy, where the king is everyone’s king.
Other than that, you’re 100% right.
The AP and other legacy media have gotten way too full of themselves over the years. No one has the right to access AF 1 or the Oval Office for any reason. They are there at the pleasure of the President and if they displease the President they won’t be anymore.
And here is the solution, low-tech as it is:
WH invests in a “ticket vendor” like a deli or bakery uses to establish the order customers are served. At a given point prior to a press conference or similar event, those interested in attending arrive at the site and “take a number”. Just prior to the event starting numbers are selected randomly, equal to the number of persons that will be allowed to attend. The people holding those tickets are allowed in, the rest can watch on TV or read about it tomorrow.
Nah, that still acknowledges that they’ve all got some sort of “right” to be invited in. Make it by invitation only, and make it clear that there is no system, it’s by the president’s choice only. If you want an invitation you’ll have to ask the president for one.
The Wall Street Journal continues to call it The Gulf of Mexico, and it wasn’t banned. This will show the ban to be a based on a pretext. It was an asinine and ignorant Trump move. A bunch of drunken illegals didn’t name the gulf. The Spaniards did half a millennium ago.
They may have, but they did loss the war.
The war ended with the 1898 Treaty of Paris, signed on December 10 with terms favorable to the U.S. The treaty ceded ownership of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines to the U.S., and set Cuba up to become an independent state in 1902, although in practice it became a U.S. protectorate. The cession of the Philippines involved payment of $20 million ($760 million today) to Spain by the U.S. to cover infrastructure owned by Spain
“Gulf of America” seems like a better name for the “gulf” which is between North America and South America.
This thread is probably dead, but just in case:
Peter Baker is making a full of himself.
https://nypost.com/2025/02/27/media/wh-press-secretary-slams-ny-times-reporter-as-left-wing-stenographer/
Maybe Peter (Oberlin College) has a little anti-Trump bias. His wiki page: “In addition to his work for MSNBC, Baker is a regular panelist on PBS’s Washington Week. In September 2022, a third book co-written with his wife, Susan Glasser, The Divider: Trump in the White House, 2017-2021 was published.”